Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on ‘remarkably complicated’ Baltimore bridge recovery and rebuilding

Geoff Bennett:

President Biden visited the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore this afternoon, getting a firsthand look at the cleanup and recovery efforts to reopen one of the nation's key shipping hubs.

The deadly collapse killed six workers who were filling potholes on the bridge when a container ship slammed into one of its pillars last week. President Biden met with the families of the victims and reaffirmed his commitment to the people of Baltimore. He's asking Congress to pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

Joe Biden , President of the United States: Everyone, including Congress, should be asking only one question. And they're going to be asked the question by your delegation. How can we help? How can we solve the problem?

My administration is committed, absolutely committed to ensuring that the party responsible for this tragedy pay to repair the damage and be held accountable to the fullest extent the law will allow.

Geoff Bennett:

Maryland Governor Wes Moore was with President Biden today, and he joins us now.

Governor, thanks for being with us, and welcome back to the "NewsHour."

Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD):

Thank you so much. Great to be with you.

Geoff Bennett:

So the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a timeline to partially open that channel in Baltimore by the end of April and fully reopen it by the end of May.

Still, though, what challenges and obstacles remain that could get in the way of that ambitious timeline?

Gov. Wes Moore:

Well, this is arguably one of the most significant maritime tragedies that we have had in recent history.

Because what we have here is a situation, in addition to the six tragic lives that were lost — and we continue to have their families in our prayers — we also have a situation that's unprecedented, a situation where you have a ship that is the size, literally the size of the Eiffel Tower and the weight of the Washington Monument that's now sitting in the middle of the Patapsco River and has the Key Bridge, an iconic bridge that's been around as long as I have been alive, that's now sitting on top of it.

You have about 27,000 tons of debris that's now sitting in the water. And so how to navigate this and do this is a remarkably complicated operation. We have been grateful that we have been working hand in hand with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the Coast Guard, with the Navy SUPSALV, with the Maryland State Police divers.

So this has been a full coordination of federal, state and local assets. And while we're thankful that the Army Corps of Engineers has put together an aggressive timeline, we know that it's going to take all hands on deck. We know it's going to continue to be a 24/7 operation. And we know we're going to continue putting together all assets necessary in order for us to provide comfort to the families, reopen the channels, make sure we're taking care of our people, and getting the Key Bridge rebuilt.

Geoff Bennett:

The closure obviously has an impact on the national economy. What are the consequences of a prolonged closure of this port on Maryland's economy?

And are you concerned that shippers and suppliers could permanently shift to ports in New Jersey and New York, for instance?

Gov. Wes Moore:

Well, I'm very concerned not just about what it's going to mean to Maryland's economy, but what it's going to mean to the nation's economy.

This is going to hurt the farmer in Kentucky, because the largest port in this country for agricultural equipment is the Port of Baltimore. This is going to hurt the automaker in Ohio because the largest port in this country for new cars and heavy trucks is the Port of Baltimore. This is going to hurt the restaurant owner in Tennessee because the largest port for spices and sugars in the country is the Port of Baltimore.

So this is not just going to have significant impacts on Maryland's economy. It will have significant impacts on our national economy. But it is one of the reasons that we have been working around the clock, and also we're so grateful for the support that we receive from businesses.

So, for example, today, we just launched something called the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Alliance, which now has over 80 companies that have signed on, some of which who have signed on and said they are not going to lay off workers or saying they are not going to reroute their products, and, even if they have to do it temporarily, they are coming back to Baltimore.

So seeing the way the community, and that includes the business community, has been rallying around Maryland and rallying around Baltimore in this moment has been truly inspiring.

Geoff Bennett:

As you mentioned, six men died in the collapse of that bridge. Four of them have not been found.

How are their families faring and what, if anything, is being done to support them, given that they likely don't have the resources to sustain the type of tragedies that have befallen them?

Gov. Wes Moore:

Our hearts continue to break for these families.

And I remember I first had a chance to meet with the families when this was still a search-and-rescue operation. And I told them we would spare no expense and we would do everything in our power to — and using assets of air, land and sea — to being able to bring their family members home.

And even as this mission has now transitioned into now a recovery mission, where this is really about how we bring a sense of closure to these families, I promise the same thing, that we will use all of our resources to bring a sense of closure and a sense of comfort to these families.

These are men who went to work and had no idea that, even though the work they were doing was dangerous, had no idea it was going to be deadly. Same thing with their families. So we are going to make sure that we are wrapping our arms around them, and not just lifting them up in prayer, but also making sure that we have supports in place for them, their families and their children.

It's the reason that I actually introduced legislation that is going to provide scholarships and supports to the families of these fallen workers.

Geoff Bennett:

And, lastly, Governor, how has this incident led you to think differently about regulating and inspecting existing bridges and then ultimately designing the Key Bridge differently?

Gov. Wes Moore:

Well, I came into this knowing that the number one priority for me was always going to be to keep our people safe. Nothing matters more.

And that includes our critical infrastructure. That includes how people are moving around. And so we have always had a very aggressive push on making sure that we're having hard — having fortified critical infrastructure, roads, bridges, tunnels, so that people can actually move safely from where they live to where they work, where they live to where they worship, where they live to where they go to school.

And we are going to make sure that that process does continue. And I know, as a full investigation is taking place as to what exactly happened in this situation by the NTSB, not only do I encourage that investigation, I want it to be a speedy investigation. And if there are people who need to be held to account for the catastrophe that we saw here in Baltimore, I want people to be held to account for it.

And so making sure we have a hard and critical infrastructure is of highest priority, but also making sure that we're learning the lessons and have clear accountability for people, particularly in this situation, also is something that I think is crucially important.

Geoff Bennett:

That is Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

Governor, we appreciate you making time for us this evening. Thank you.

Gov. Wes Moore:

God bless you. Thank you.